Week 5: Overall Impressions

Hisham Matar's, "In The Country of Men" is an excellent book. I enjoyed the leisurely tone that the author set forth. Because the book wasn't too intense, it allowed for a casual read. One of the biggest drawbacks (which is completely understandable) is the first person point of view. The main reason I did not like this POV is because it lengthened out simple passages and made them confusing sometimes. The reason this is understandable is because it shows how a young boys mind is constantly thinking of other things. However, I do not think that a nine-year-old boy would reflect on his own life so much. The benefits of the point of view are that surprises to Suleiman are surprises to us to. For example Suleiman tries to protect his dad's books when Moosa and Najwa are burning them. At first I thought that Moosa was trying to get rid of Faraj's influence to Najwa, and that Moosa was going to move in, but when Faraj comes home and is pleased we understand that Faraj had told Moosa and Najwa to burn the books. Overall I thought this book was an enjoyable read. If I were to read it now, knowing what I do know about it, I would read another book along with it, since this book isn't exactly one which "you can't put down", once you've picked it up. I would rate it 6.5 out of 10.